In the art of dispensing liquid material and particularly viscous liquid material such as soap, lotion, etc., it is commonly known to provide dispensers which, in many instances, are wall mounted. These dispensers receive replaceable cartridges which contain the liquid material and which, in many instances, dispense the material from the cartridge through a collapsible tube and ultimately through a nozzle to the exterior of the dispenser.
Such dispensers generally operate by providing a hand-actuated lever or handle which, when activated by either pushing it toward the dispenser or pulling it away, causes collapse of the tube through an internal mechanism which engages and compresses the tube. Such collapse of the tube then forces a measured amount of the material out through the nozzle. Such a dispenser can be seen, for example, in Bartasevich U.S. Pat. No. 5,265,772 wherein the handle 31 is moved inwardly and the pressure member 31c collapses the tube 62 against a backup member or platen 54 to thus expel the material onto the hand of the user.
While dispensers of this general type have found wide acceptance in the art, it should be kept in mind that the ultimate purpose of dispensing the material, particularly in the instance wherein the material is soap, is sanitation. Furthermore, dispensers of this type are found in public areas as well as in the home and, therefore, countless individuals engage the hand-operated lever or handle to actuate the dispenser, thereby increasing the possibility of contamination and transmittal of germs. Furthermore, dispensers of this type are often used in healthcare or food handling environments where high levels of sanitization are required.
In view of this, it is thought desirable to provide a dispenser of this type in which the hand of the recipient of the material, such as soap, never comes into contact with the dispenser itself.
In accomplishment of this desired result, it is believed desirable to be able to actuate the dispenser in a "hands-free" fashion.
Hands-free dispensers have, therefore, been developed and examples can be found in the prior patent art. For example, Evezich U.S. Pat. No. 5,312,018 discloses a dispenser with a foot pedal with a bellows which forces air directly into a collapsible cartridge. Wright U.S. Pat. No. 5,269,444 is similar in showing the use of air introduced into the cartridge to assist in dispensing the material.
Garabedian U.S. Pat. No. 4,564,127 discloses using a foot pedal to activate a mechanical valve actuator and Dror U.S. Pat. No. 4,187,845 also discloses a foot-operated mechanical linkage as does Midworth U.S. Pat. No. 3,197,081.
Johnson U.S. Pat. No. 5,115,948; Benson U.S. Pat. No. 3,952,924; Meyer U.S. Pat. No. 5,398,845; and Kaufman U.S. Pat. No. 5,427,279 all disclose the use of a bellows to assist in dispensing liquid, although these structures are all hand operated.
While these dispensers are assumed to be adequate for the purposes for which they are designed, still further improvements are believed desirable.
Thus, it is believed to be advantageous to provide a foot-operated dispenser wherein the existing dispensers may be easily retrofitted.
Furthermore, such a modification may be made without impairing the normal, hand-operated function of the dispenser.
Finally, it is believed desirable to provide a very simple apparatus for achieving the hands-free operation with no modification of the existing dispenser.
The present invention is intended to provide such a hands-free actuating apparatus in which foot pressure actuates a bladder which, in turn, acts on the usual pressure member of the dispenser and also to provide one in which existing dispensers of this general type can be simply retrofit, in the field, to provide for such an operation.